The ordinance that was proposed in Cheyenne, WY, to try to control street ticket scalping for the extremely popular Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) – 540,000 people over the course of 10 days – was withdraw, TicketNews has confirmed. City Attorney Dan White said that as of May 14, “the proposal was withdrawn and nothing is pending.”
CFD, billed as the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and western celebration, is in its 113th year and since the 1960s, its “night shows” – big country and western acts, such as this year’s George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift – have helped to make tickets a hot commodity. This year’s CFD begins May 17.
The Associated Press reported that the ordinance sponsor, Councilwoman Georgia Broyles, pulled it from the agenda Monday, May 11.
But AP also wrote, “She says the ordinance had strayed from its original intent to address online scalping.”
However, TicketNews spoke with Cheyenne Frontier Days Executive Director Dave Johansen, who said that was not what he thought was being addressed. “The police chief came to us and said he had had complaints about scalpers on-site. Would we be interested in an ordinance to help control that? ‘Of course,’ we said.”
Johansen said there was not any discussion he can remember concerning the issue of online (internet) reselling of tickets.
No one TicketNews spoke to could speak to the question of whether or not a re-written ordinance was in the works.
Calls, a message and an e-mail to Broyles were not returned.
